Recreation Complex To Be Built In Phases

December 5, 1989|By Rick Badie Of The Sentinel Staff

MOUNT DORA — It will take more than a couple of years to turn a goat pond into a community gem.

The Bond for a Better Future Committee realizes construction will have to be phased over a five-, possibly 10-year period to transform a 12-acre field into a recreation complex. The project would include a library, community center and recreation facilities.

Today, the committee is to present a $3.9 million list of capital improvement projects for council consideration and possibly public comment.

''Our intention is to do this in phases, not just one swoop,'' said committee chairman Joe Shipes, a real estate agent. ''The first phase might include a community building and library. We're looking at a five-year plan or longer.''

The multipurpose complex would be called the Oak Ridge Park Community Center. The committee decided to propose the facility because committee members and other residents weren't aware of a $2.5 million bond issue being considered by the city to finance several capital projects.

The bond would be repaid with money collected from an extra-penny sales tax approved by Lake County voters last year. The city's annual share of tax revenue is nearly $333,000. With interest, the city would wind up repaying $3.9 million during a 13-year period, city officials have said.

Today's public hearing is scheduled for 6 p.m. in the downtown community building on Baker Street.

In other action, the city council plans to: - Settle wage negotiations between city officials and the police union. The city and the Police Benevolent Association of Central Florida declared an impasse over wage issues in November.

- Have a final reading of an ordinance that would lower the application fee for conditional-use permits for home occupations from $250 to $75.

The original ordinance was challenged by defeated at-large City Council candidate Bill Still, who works as a freelance writer at his Third Avenue home.

Still and city officials have agreed that the permit should not apply to the medical writer because his business does not create any pedestrian or vehicle traffic in the neighborhood.